Roads, means of transport, and features of travel around the Russian Empire in the 19th century (based on travel notes of German-speaking scientists and travelers)

German-speaking authors' travel notes, untranslated or partially translated into Russian, are used in the article to examine the condition of roads, Russian means of transportation, the specifics of Russian coachmen's driving and their skills, as well as the peculiarities of travel across different regions of the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Some of the most famous works about 19th-century Russia written by foreigners are those of the Frenchmen A. de Custine and T. Gautier, the books of the American G. Kennan, and others. The book Russia of the First Half of the 19th Century through the Eyes of Foreigners, compiled by Yu.A. Limonov, contains memoirs and travel notes by Baroness J. de Stael, A. de Custine, F.B. von Gagern, and others. To this day, there remain travel notes by German-speaking authors that are of significant scientific interest but have not been translated or have only been partially translated into Russian. This article focuses precisely on such German-language travel notes that are little known in Russia. The aim of this article is to summarize the facts noted in the travel notes of four German-speaking Western European scholars and travelers concerning the condition of roads, peculiarities of means of transportation, specifics of travel across Russia, conditions for rest, and the availability of horses at post stations in the 19th-century Russian Empire. The sources for the article were travel notes in German, namely the writings of Johann Heinrich Blasius and Edmund Heiking (Heyking), who wrote about their own impressions and experiences; the travel diaries of the Englishman Alexander Michie, revised and published by the German scientist Richard Andree; as well as the notes of Johann von Blaramberg (known in Russian service as Ivan Fedorovich Blaramberg), which were reproduced by Emil von Sydow. The structure of the main body of the article is as follows: (1) assessments of the condition of roads in the 19th-century Russian Empire by the aforementioned German-speaking authors; (2) their description of Russian means of transportation and harnesses; (3) the peculiarities of Russian coachmen's driving and their skills; (4) the specific Russian conditions for rest at post stations, as well as the problem of the availability or lack of horses at the stations according to these four authors. The authors came to the following conclusions. The condition of roads in the Russian Empire, the means of transportation, and the peculiarities of Russian coachmen's driving evoked an ambiguous reaction from foreigners. They were largely correct in criticizing Russian roads and the rest conditions at post stations. At the same time, the authors of the travel notes sought to explain to themselves and their readers why the means of transportation in Russia were somewhat different from those in their homelands. A common theme in the travel notes used in the article is the foreigners' admiration for the high speed at which Russian coachmen drove. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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